Ford 300 inline 6 horror stories!!!

By crf250r_motorhead, Posted April 14, 2009

my good ole dad just gave me my first vehicle.

1991 f150 xlt crewcab 4.9L I6

i took her for a highway run today and the odometer just crawled to 144,000 miles.

he bought a f150 with a I6 for my older brother about 7-8 years ago and hge beat the piss out of that motor,she just kept on tickin.. in fact, it held up so good that when my brothers buddies motor shit out he dropped it in his truck's body. (seeing as my brothers body was very beat up,he couldnt take care of anything)

so lets see what the fellow TT'ers put these indestructible torque monsters through

By ClayKann, Posted April 14, 2009

you got your first truck at 25?

By ba10, Posted April 14, 2009

A friend of mine had this motor in an Econoline and the only issue he ever had was the oil pan rusted out in about 10 years and needed a new one.

By adam728, Posted April 14, 2009

When I was in highschool my buddy's dad had one, we'd use to to haul the dirt bikes, or get pallets for fires, stuff like that.

Had close to 300,000 miles on it

The truck box was so rusted out that there were several rachet straps run acrossed it to keep the sides from sagging outwards.

By cleonard, Posted April 14, 2009

I have just over 100k on my 93 4x4 with the dreaded Mazda 5 speed manual. I have the standard cab with the 8 foot box. It's nice to close the tailgate and sill have room to pack stuff behind the bikes. The standard cab sucks though.

The engine is the most reliable part of the truck. It's no hp powerhouse and it sucks a lot of gas, but it will run forever and has great low end torque. The truck will fall apart around the engine. The low hp kind of limits towing capability to around 5000 pounds. No 7000 pound toy haulers like a more modern F150.

By DRX350, Posted April 14, 2009

I had an '85 with 250k with a 4 speed when I got it. I used it to deliver boats and to haul debris. I averaged 17-19mpg. It didn't burn an ounce of oil and could cruise at 75 all day long.

I towed boats anywhere from 1500lbs to 6000lbs as far as 250 miles. If I could find one for a reasonable price, I'd get one in a heart beat.

PS: Who needs HP when you've got 260ft-lbs of torque at 2000RPM

By RAD2007, Posted April 14, 2009

well mine is a 93 xl supercab with 5spd and the only thing it has needed in clutches and brakes the truck has 250K and still runs great I put 3/4 ton springs on the front and 2200lb leaf on the rear I do all my own maintainence and have never had a problem with the truck the worst I have ever done to it was tow an old cj on a trailer with a bike in the bed from San Diego to San Antonio over pressurized the case going through the hills and blew about 2 quarts out of the rear main didn't realize it until I got home so I just did an oil change and thought nothing of it and that was 150K ago

By L-vie, Posted April 14, 2009

Very good engines.

Sucked the gas. The V8's usually got better MPG.

Lots of torque.

If it didn't use some oil between changes, something was wrong.

By bills442, Posted April 14, 2009

I used to have a '77 with a three on the tree. Never had a problem with the engine, but I can't say I was super impressed with it. Ran like a dog, sucked gas, and I've had plenty of v8s that clocked just as many miles. Like I say, nothing to complain about, but I didn't find it exemplar in any aspect; but that was the only one I owned so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

By crf250r_motorhead, Posted April 14, 2009

haha wooops.

im 15,musta put '84 or something as my birth date:bonk:

nice stories so far tho guys!

i hope this truck'll last as good for me

By DRX350, Posted April 14, 2009

People have put close to a half million miles on those things, people have also turbo-ed them and got close to 300hp and it was still super reliable.

By brad the best, Posted April 14, 2009

my neighbor had a 85 with just under 500 000 kms on it , all bush miles since he owned a logging company and it was his work truck .

replaced the clutch rad and engine bearings at about 450 000 kms .

on the other hand had a 94 , blew the 5 speed , blew the 8.8 rear end the frame flexed so bad offroad the box cracked . also had to replace half of the t-case due to case wear .

my stupid cherokee had 300 000 miles on its 4.0 and it still ran like a top .

By Chickenhauler, Posted April 15, 2009

A friend of mine had this motor in an Econoline and the only issue he ever had was the oil pan rusted out in about 10 years and needed a new one.

That was the weakest part of the engine, especially in the late 80's and early 90's-the oil pan would rust.

If you see surface rust on the pan, REPLACE IT. That was the only indicator before it blows a hole in the thing. Saw several formerly good motors in the scrap dumpster because of a $50 oil pan.

Did the Aerostar have an I6 or V6?

They had the V6, either the 2.8L or 2.9L.

Tranny took a dump at 59,993 miles. Seven miles before the warranty ran out.

You're lucky it made it that long. Most didn't.

New brake pads, OEM of course, one split into a million pieces after about 2,000 miles.

Bad parts supplier.

Sliding door got jammed.

It didn't fall off? You got off easy.

HVAC died.

You mean it actually worked at one time?

Spark plug changes were interesting, required pulling the carpet up off the floor to access a panel to reach one of the plugs.

If you think that is bad, do an intake manifold gasket or head gasket job on one of these turds once.

I have had several PU's with 300-6's in them, and they won't die. I had one that was in excess of 400K miles, 3rd set of floors, 4th clutch, 3rd rear end, uncountable number of ball joints, axle joints, u joints, radius arm bushings, one transfer case replacement, who knows how many sets of brakes, and I finally gave up on the old girl when the door posts rotted out and the drivers door fell off.

Sold the truck to a kid to make a mudder out of, and the it's still going to this day (minus doors and box).

They never were the fastest trucks I ever owned, nor the most powerful, but they could pull 3 loaded hayracks (120 bale loads) with another 50 bales in the box out of the field and back to the farm. Gears and torque.

Change the oil keep them in good maintenance (change coolant every other year, keep up on the "little" stuff), and the engine will outlast the truck.

By 1sikwheelie, Posted April 15, 2009

That was the weakest part of the engine,

They had the V6, either the 2.8L or 2.9L.

Can you tell who really has a dislike for Aerostars?:bustede

I know a guy who HAD an aerostar and they either had a 3.0l or a 4.0l V6 and his went 182k miles. Only broke down once to a bad fuel pump. He drove that van every where, haul everything even the kitchen sink in it, yea the interior was kinda junk but for an 18 year old van what do ya expect. He recently got ride of the thing. Yea surprisingly it still ran good and shifted fine but the drivers seat broke and he retired it. Anouther guy I know had a 87 F150 with 240k miles on it and the engine ran like a top but got ride of the truck cause everything else fell apart around the motor. Wish Ford still made the in line 6 as I would have bought one of those in stead of my Chevy.

By brad the best, Posted April 15, 2009

That was the weakest part of the engine,

They had the V6, either the 2.8L or 2.9L.

Can you tell who really has a dislike for Aerostars?:bustede

I know a guy who HAD an aerostar and they either had a 3.0l or a 4.0l V6 and his went 182k miles. Only broke down once to a bad fuel pump. He drove that van every where, haul everything even the kitchen sink in it, yea the interior was kinda junk but for an 18 year old van what do ya expect. He recently got ride of the thing. Yea surprisingly it still ran good and shifted fine but the drivers seat broke and he retired it.

my family had one when i was growing up , a 93 if i remember .

ac crapped out , tranny blew up . spark plugs were next to impossible to change .

had friends with one they blew 2-3 trannys .

and finally i had a friend who installed carpet for home hardware that had one as a work vehicle it also ate a few transmissions .

they didn't do this last year they did it in the early 90's , probably the worst van ever made i still remember draining the transmission oil to find chunks of steel in the oil , large chunks of steel . i have to say our wind star wasn't a whole lot better .

on another note they should of mated the 300 6 to a t18 with a np205 and a 9" rear end , that driveline would of went forever .

By Chickenhauler, Posted April 15, 2009

I know a guy who HAD an aerostar and they either had a 3.0l or a 4.0l V6 and his went 182k miles.

The Aerostar's engine selections were quite similar to the Ranger's- 2.3L, 2.8L, 2.9L, 3.0L and 4.0L were all available over the lifespan of them, but the 2.9 was put in more of them, or at least I worked on more of them with the 2.9L.

The later the year, the bigger the motor was available. Didn't really matter what engine they put in them, they sucked to work on.

Only person I know that has ever blown up a 300-6 (vs worn one out) was caused by lack of oil-moron just drove and drove and drove, never checked or changed it, went 3 years before it ran dry and "ventilated the block".

By Smacaroni, Posted April 15, 2009

They had the V6, either the 2.8L or 2.9L.

Ah... I didn't remember, it's been a long, long time.

You're lucky it made it that long. Most didn't.

Under warranty is under warranty though.

Bad parts supplier.

Good ol' motorcraft.

It didn't fall off? You got off easy.

No, but a coworker and friend was walking down the street, a Windstar is driving along and the damn passenger's side door fell clear off.

Must not have been the first time it happened, the driver stopped, passenger got out, threw the door in the middle, got back in and they drove off.

You mean it actually worked at one time?

Yes, and it even had dual zone fans too. My brothers and I liked the stereo controls in the back of the van, mom wasn't so fond of us changing the station in the middle of Paul Harvey. (that guy's a class act, wish he still did the show now that I'm older and wiser, well, older.)

You took it on the highway? You're a braver man than I.

Hey, I was 16, I was just happy mom let me drive at all on long trips. The game was to see if she'd fall asleep and see how far I could drive across state lines before she noticed.

You got lucky, it's dead.

I agree. I thought they all were. Then about six months ago, I said to someone "you never see these any more because they're total shit".

That day I saw one, somebody cut the body off and stuck it on a monster truck. Ok, fine, so the body's in one piece, but the rest of it's not.

Since then, they regularly appear around me, I think they may be the ghosts of pissed off Aerostars.

Can you tell who really has a dislike for Aerostars?

I can't blame you one bit.

I know a guy who HAD an aerostar and they either had a 3.0l or a 4.0l V6 and his went 182k miles. Only broke down once to a bad fuel pump. He drove that van every where, haul everything even the kitchen sink in it, yea the interior was kinda junk but for an 18 year old van what do ya expect. He recently got ride of the thing. Yea surprisingly it still ran good and shifted fine but the drivers seat broke and he retired it.

That's amazing.

I thought I had found a good Ford, the last one I'll ever own. Made it to 222k when it dropped a valve, fubared the piston and head. As it turns out, the Focus SOHC engine is notorious for this, used engines go for $1200, installed for $1800. I decided to cut my losses, the carcass left our driveway last month, I parted about $1,200 out of that car, would have been able to make a lot more, but most people needed a several parts at once, so that cut down on profits alot. One guy took nearly the entire front end and air bags (accident) one guy bought the block (I am amazed!), still got a few things kicking around from people who said "I want this" but lack commitment for a $50 part. Had some guy who wanted to buy the stock radio (why?) but never got it.

they didn't do this last year they did it in the early 90's , probably the worst van ever made i still remember draining the transmission oil to find chunks of steel in the oil , large chunks of steel . i have to say our wind star wasn't a whole lot better .

Agreed on all counts.

Our Windstar (Ford strike number two) had 58,000 on it when we got it. Three years later, it had 67,000 miles on it. It spent more time in the mechanic's garage than in our driveway, where it spent a lot more time than it did on the road. That damn thing was so bad, we bought a back up car which also saw more use than the van did.

Gas mileage wasn't too bad, but it was far from good.

Surprisingly, the drive train was one of the few things that worked right.

ABS was sporadic, always had a check engine light on. When one problem was fixed, another would go.

One year, my mechanic - bless his soul - drove it around for TWO HOURS to get the emissions sensors to "set" so it would pass inspection. It still had two that didn't set, but that was enough to pass.

So we tried to trade it, went to Advance Auto had them reset the computer, what do you know in 15 F-ING minutes wasn't that damn check engine light on. But my mechanic can drive it around for hours without stuff finishing it's reset routine, we need it to stay off and it won't.

Needless to say, trading it became cost prohibitive since we would have started about eight thousand upside down on a new car. This is the only time I've ever considered doing this and only because that thing was so bad.

I finally sold it, lost my shirt and about $7,000. And the coolest air freshener ever that had molded boobs on it.

I miss the air freshener.

By Kyron, Posted April 15, 2009

I worked at Sky Harbor (the big airport in Phoenix) and our shop had (still has) a 86 F150 with over 200,000 miles on it........

Those are hard stop and go miles too! During the summer it stays on 24/7 with the AC cranking. When its 130 degrees on the ground and your outside working, you NEED a cool place to cool off .......

Everytime I fly out of the airport I see that truck still driving around